Oversupplied Rockies/San Juan gas failed to share in mostly substantial price gains throughout the rest of the market Friday. Virtually all of the upticks were measured in double digits, ranging up to about 40 cents higher in the Pacific Northwest.

Believe it or not, a tropical storm poised to move through a prime Gulf of Mexico production area was almost totally ignored when it came to shut-ins. Only MOPS among the major pipes with offshore connections reported any at all (three small platforms with minimal impact, according to a MOPS spokeswoman), while Minerals Management Service in New Orleans said Anadarko’s shut-in of less than 6 MMcf/d was the only one reported to it as of Friday afternoon (see related story).

The storm “kind of snuck up on everybody,” a Trunkline spokesman said in partial explanation of the relative apathy toward Fay among the offshore community.

Fay, which developed into a tropical storm Thursday night, was “essentially stationary” about 105 miles south of Galveston, TX Friday but was expected to eventually begin a west-northwest or northwest movement, according to the National Weather Service. Its maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph and “could approach hurricane strength prior to landfall,” NWS said in a 4 p.m. CDT update.

“There seems to be a lot more concern about Fay onshore than offshore because people in the Houston area remember Allison last year,” one source remarked. He suspected there were shut-in preparations being made Friday afternoon that hadn’t been reported to MMS.

Tropical Depression Edouard was dissipating about 125 southwest of Apalachicola, FL, according to the final NWS advisory on that storm.

A Northeast utility buyer said there may have been a bit of “storm hype” involved in the price run-ups for weekend flow. But there were also some genuine demand increases with hotter weather due to move into the region over the weekend, which was reflected in spiking power prices Friday for Nepool (New England) and PJM-West, he said. “But I think even more important was the screen being higher both on the previous afternoon and while cash traded [Friday morning], even though it went into the red later. To me, financials drive the cash market more than fundamentals lately.”

Florida citygates were nudging over $4, retaining the title of most expensive market, although Florida Gas Transmission loosened the imbalance tolerance on an Overage Alert Day notice from 5% to 10% Friday.

Rockies quotes sank to less than a dollar again in many cases. A marketer believes the Rockies has been missing out on general market bullishness lately because of excess supplies. Area producers have been drilling a lot more in anticipation of the Kern River expansion, but the gas is coming online before the expansion is in place, he said. Also, there had been a lot of constraints on Jonah Field production, but those have largely disappeared since July, and now the Opal Plant is processing significantly greater volumes than earlier this year, the marketer added.

He went on to say Questar had told customers Thursday that all Clay Basin ISS (Interruptible Storage Service) accounts must be emptied within 30 days. “That’s just going to put extra downward pressure on Rockies prices.”

Pacific Northwest and Western Canada points tended to see the day’s biggest gains, with a couple of traders quoting a Sumas run-up from the $2.30s early on to the $2.70s late. Westcoast Station 2 even flirted with the C$4 mark, topping off in the mid C$3.90s. A marketer said Station 2 was influenced by Thursday afternoon’s Nymex strength, but he also suspected that the supply shortfall from Westcoast’s Fort Nelson Plant turnaround was starting to be felt more than before. Besides, he added, it’s downright cold in Western Canada and to a lesser degree in the Pacific Northwest. “I’m sure it’s cold enough here in Calgary to create some heating load,” the marketer said.

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